Colombo: With Harbhajan Singh making a memorable comeback and Piyush Chawla coming good in the spin department, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said that his side would face the problem of plenty but the best eleven will play in the remaining games of the World Twenty20 here.
T20 world cup England vs India
“Now we have got a problem of plenty with both the spinners (Harbhajan and Chawla) doing well today. Yes, we have got difficult decisions to make. Not to forget that the players who missed out today have won a lot of games for India on their own,” Dhoni said after India thrash England by 90 runs in their last group league match.
“It will be a difficult decision but we will pick the best eleven,” he added.
He praised the players for the all-round show against defending champions England today.
“It was an efficient performance. People might say we were slow for the first 15 over (while batting), but we were not over-aiming. We had five bowlers, we knew that,” he said.
“Then the bowlers produced a fantastic performance,” he said.
Dhoni informed that he requested some senior players to take rest so that the side can try out some combinations.
“It was a difficult decision, but we requested the seniors to rest so that we could try out some combinations. All of them cooperated and told me to go ahead,” he said.
“We rested R Ashwin also, our best spinner for some time so that we can try Harbhajan and Piyush. They did really well today,” he added.
Asked about Irfan Pathan opening the innings in the absence of Virender Sehwag, he said, “We thought by opening with Irfan, there would be no change in batting position of other batsmen. They would be batting in their earlier batting spots.
“He (Irfan) is a gutsy player. He may not look pretty, but he responds to the call,” said Dhoni.
“About Rohit, he is talented player. It is important if guys are responding to give them a few extra games.”
England captain Stuart Broad conceded that it was a poor show by his players today.
“Yeah it was poor. All round really. We were okay with chasing 171, but India bowled really well. We weren’t as efficient, but we were happy with 171,” he said.
Asked why his batsmen competed in returning to the dressing room, he said, “We played across the line too much. It was worth looking at playing one fewer spinner because we could afford to lose. I don’t agree we can’t play spin.
“We have been learning. We have had a very bad day, but that doesn’t affect the rest of the tournament. we get onto the bus, and play out Super 8s. It doesn’t change where we go.”
Post Match Presentation
Harbhajan Singh:' First of all I would like to thank God. Ya, I'm back. I have been dropped because of injuries and other boys were doing well. God is great and he gave me 4 wickets. For me it was an important game, I was not playing international games for a year. Taking wickets was much needed. This reward is for my mom and close people who have stuck to me. In T20 cricket, it's important to just read the game and cut down the run-up. I was not able to control the ball. I bowled with a shorter run-up. This is everything for me, without playing for India, what I would do. Special thanks to the boys, who supported me when I was out. I would like to thank Essex people as well. Hopefully I can continue to do well.'
Harbhajan Singh is the Man of the Match.
Dhoni:' I think it was a fantastic performance after resting a few key players. We batted really well. We were not aiming too high as we had 5 bowlers and they responded well. It's a difficult one, we have requested the senior players to try a few players. They responded well. Irfan is gutsy and he takes up challenges. The middle order remained the same. That was a good sign for us. Response from the spinners was brilliant. Our fast bowlers were not bowling really well. Let's go back to our basics. We gave both spinners chances and now we have a problem of plenty. If the guys are responding, you need to give them some extra games. When you get desperate to perform, you don't really do well. Rohit can play a variety of strokes. We will have to see the interest of the team. All the players who missed the games have won India a lot of players single-handedly.'
Broad: ' We were happy conceding 170. We did not get it right with the ball. I think we probably did not bowl tightly at the start. We were not as efficient as we should have been. We wanted to take a look at the balance of our side. It was worth having a look. We will reassess. The dots came when we started losing wickets. India closed the game really well. I have seen guys in the team playing spin extremely well. We had a bad day, but it does not affect us. We have had two pretty average performances and some really good performances. '
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